Sometimes, though, the Scuds got through. Army PFC Anthony Drees, 23, of Grand Forks, N.Dak., had been in Saudi Arabia less than a week when a Scud barreled into his tin-plated barracks, leaving 28 dead and Drees fighting for his life: "I felt it more than I heard it. Then there was a loud snap. I went from standing over my cot to kneeling. There was just a numbing feeling over my whole body. Everyone was moving, kind of like zombies. A man shouted. 'I'm hit! I'm hit!' And I thought to myself, 'Yeah, we're all hit. Goddamn it!'

"I reached back with my hand to grab my legs. All I felt was a hole. They [my thighs] were both gone. Another guy I know, he had a funny look on his face. I looked down and he didn't have any legs. I just put my arms across his chest and pulled him as close as I could to the wall, so he wouldn't be so close to the fire. I wanted to be able to help so bad. But he died.

"I was like a three-legged dog trying to get out of there. I lay down on the road, and I told myself, 'I can't go to sleep and I can't pass out. If I do, I'll die.' In a few minutes there was a man there helping me, and he asked me what I was doing. I said, 'I'm praying.' And he said, 'Pray out loud. We'll pray together.' I started with, Thank you, Jesus,' and I never stopped until I reached a Saudi hospital. I just thanked Him for being alive."

Originally published on August 25, 2015 by SpeakerMatch Speakers Bureau